Electric fan.



W. M. McEWEN.

ELECTRIC FAN..

APPLICATION mm 001.11. 1915.

1 14,698. Patented Feb. 6, 1917.

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UNTTED STATES TATENT WILLARD M. MOEWEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 6, 1917.

Application filed Butcher 11, 1915. Serial No. 55,267.

July 17, 1915, and has for its main object the provision of improved means for tiltably and rotatably supporting the blower mechanism on the supporting member so as to substantially eliminate all play in the various parts and thereby reduce vibration to a minimum and obtain a greater uniformity of action.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section showing the improved mechanism for causing the rotating fan to tilt vertically and oscillate horizontally. Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary detail of the supporting lug on the fan casing, showing the formation of the cam therein. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail of the pin which coacts with said cam.

The construction shown in the drawings comprises blower mechanism including a motor 1, a fan blade 2 and a motor casing 3, which is tiltably supported at the top of a vertical shaft i by means of a lug or member 5 on the under side of the motor casing 3. The upper end of the shaft 1 is enlarged to form a head 19 which is bifurcated so as to receive the lug 5 and a pin 6 connects the lug 5 and head 19 and provides a horizontal axis on which the casing may tilt. The shaft 4: is journaled on a base or supporting member 7 by means of an anti-friction hearing 8, a nut 9 being secured to the lower end of the shaft and serving to hold the shaft against longitudinal movement. A member or collar 10 is also journaled on the support 7 and carries an annular wave-like track 11,

around the periphery of which there are' gear teeth to form a gear or rack 12 arranged for engagement with a pinion 13 by means of which the collar is rotated.

co-pending applications Serial No.

In the devices illustrated in the above mentioned co-pending applications, the fact that the axis of the tilting movement is below the axis of the rollers which ride on the wave-like track, and that, therefore, the axis of the said rollers is carried longitudinally forward and'back as the fan tilts, has introduced difhculties in the machining of the wave-like track which have made it necessary to permit the rollers to shift axially on their journals and also to provide for vertical play in the bearings of the supporting shaft herein numbered 4:. Tn practice this play gave rise to a. jerky action and has also rendered it impracticable to support the shaft 4E by means of anti-friction bearings at the upper end thereof.

By transferring the weight of the tilting parts of the fan from the rollers on the wave-like track to a hearing at the upper end of the vertical shaft 4: and using a single roller 1 1 for tilting the fan, the operation of the device is greatly improved and the jerky oscillation is completely obviated.

The present device, employs the same principle of oscillation explained in the hereinbefore mentioned co-pending applications, wherein by tilting the axis of rotation of the fan in a vertical plane gyratory forces are brought into play and cause the fan to swing in a horizontal plane. The tilting is effected by the rotation of the member 10 relative to the shaft 5, as caused by the action of the pinion 13 and rack 12, acting on the roller l-i. -The fan reverses the direction of hori zontal swinging whenever the direction of vertical tilting is reversed, the length of the swing depending upon the rapidity with which the change in the tilting occurs.

In the present construction, a single roller 14- is journaled on a trunnion 15 connected to the lug 4 and engages the track 11. The pinion 13 is rigid on the shaft 16 which is operatively connected to the motor 1 by means of a worm 17 and gear 18.

The head 19 provides a shoulder 20 between which and the upper end of the base 7 an anti-friction bearing 8 is placed. This bearing'is preferably in the form of a plurality ofsuperimposed washers embracing the shaft 4 and resting on the end of the base 7. This character of hearing has been found particularly advantageous in a device of this kind, for the reason that, though it reduces materially the friction that would exist if the shoulder 20 rested directly upon the end of the base 7, it nevertheless creates sufficient friction to insure greater. uniformity of oscillation of the fan. When a single roller 14- is used it is necessary to provide means for preventing inertia from causing the roller ltto lift clear of the track 11 as it passes over the crests of the waves thereon. To this end a friction shoe in the form of a pin 21 is mounted on the bifurcated head 19 of the shaft 1 and normally urged by a spring 22 to engage shoulders 23 and 24:, formed at the ends of acam slot or groove 25, for positively limiting the tilting of the blower mechanism, particularly toward the side opposite the roller 14:. The pin 21 is supported in a nut 26 to which a cap 27 is attached and which inclo ses the spring 22.

The cam 25 may consist of a groove cut in the lug 5 and is preferably shallower at the left hand end so that as the roller 1 1 is traveling down the waves at the track 11, the spring 22 is being compressed, thereby increasing the friction of the pin 21 against the cam 25 so as to retard the travel of the oller 14: down the track 11. This increase in friction counteracts the tendency of the blower mechanism to coast as the roller lt moves down the wave and thereby causes the pinion 13 to maintain a uniform rotation of the member 10 the same as when the roller is traveling up the wave.

Thenut 26 is provided with a square or hexagonal shoulder 28 by means of which it may be screwed into and out of the shaft and the cap 27 is provided with a similar annular shoulde 29 by means of which it may be adjusted on the nut 26 for regulating thetension of the spring 22.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention has been herein shown and de scribed, it will be understood that numerous details of the construction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of this invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim 1. In an air circulating. device, the coinbination of a support, a pair of members pivotally connected together, one of said members being journaled on saidsupport on an axis transverse to said pivotal connection, rotary blower mechanism carried by the other said member, mechanism for tilting. said blower mechanism and thereby through gyratory forces causing saidblower mechanism to oscillate in a plane transverse to the plane of tilting, and coacting means yieldingly resisting said tilting movement.

2. In an air circulating device. the combination of a support, a pair of members pivotally connected together, one of said members being journaled on said support on an axis transverse to said pivotal connection, rotary blower mechanism carried by the. othe said member, mechanism for tilting said blower mechanism and thereby through gyratory forces causing said blower mechanism to oscillate in a plane transverse to the plane of tilting, and coacting means members. and means on the other said mem- 1 her yieldingly urged into engagement with said cam so as to variably, resist the tilting movement of said blower mechanism.

at. In an air circulating device, the combination of a support, a pair of members pivotally connected together, one of said members being journaled on said support on an axis transverse to said pivotal connection, rotary blower mechanism carried by the other said member, mechanism for tiltingsaid blower mechanism and thereby through gyratory forces causing said blower mechanism to oscillate in a plane transverse to theplane of tilting, a cam on oneof said members, and means on the other said memer yieldingly urged into engagement with said cam so as to variably resist the tilting movement of said blower mechanism, said cam having a shoulderadapted to coact with said means for limiting the tilting'of said blower mechanism,

5. In an air circulating device, the combination of a support, a shaft journaled therein, blower mechanism tiltablymounted on said shaft on an axis transverse thereto, rotary mechanism for tilting said blower mechanism and thereby through gyratory forces causing said blower mechanism to oscillate in a plane transverse to the plane of tilting, a cam formed on said blower mechanism concentrically with the axis of tilting, and a shoulde yieldingly mounted on said shaft and adapted to engage said cam for yieldingly resisting the tilting movement of said blower mechanism.

6. In an. air circulating device, the coming of said mechanism toward the opposite side of said shaft.

7 In an air circulating device, the combination of a support, a shaft journaled therein, rotary blower mechanism tiltably mounted on said shaft on a transverse axis, a rolle and cam track located at one side of said shaft and adapted to tilt said blower mechanism and thereby through gyratory forces causing said blower mechanism to ber 1.915. Y

WILLARD M. MGEWEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

